Nice White Parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize why it's "racist" to avoid sending your white (or Asian?) child to a crummy school, that happens to be majority minority? And dovetailing, how does a lack of white (and Asian?) students make a minority majority school disadvantaged?

I honestly don't get this argument.

And correct me if I'm wrong, Wilson would naturally become VERY white but DCPS busses in kids so it doesn't, right?

And while you're at it, maybe revisit Brown vs. Board.

Or better yet, how it’s somehow worse to keep your kid at a low performing majority minority school and yet “allow them” to be placed into the gifted class at that school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I couldn't believe the first episode! I thought it was going to be totally different based on the reviews.

I don't think these white parents did anything wrong except not being more inclusive to the parents who were already there. But a. the school was struggling to attract new students, b. the media is telling white people how bad and racist we are all the time, how wrong it is to move to the suburbs (white flight), how wrong it is to send your kids to 40-50k a year private schools etc. etc. and here these parents actually send their kids to the neighborhood school, c. they fundraise on their own to put into place the new program they want. At least they weren't using the PTA's money for it.

What do you want white parents to do? We're bad if we move to the suburbs, we're bad if we send our kids to private school, and now we're also bad if we send our kids to the neighborhood school and get involved in it.

You answered your own question.

But that's just the personalities of the particular people involved, that fundraiser Rob and some of his friends. That's not a "white people" problem.

Look, here was a school struggling to attract new students and worried about closing due to low numbers. The principal wants to attract new students. She ok's their idea of a new French program as long as they can find a way to pay for it, which they do.

She should have communicated that to the rest of the parent body. "Hey, we're starting a new French program with this funding through the French embassy, it's open to everyone, woo hoo."

If the parent body had wanted a Spanish or Arabic program (honestly doesn't sound like it was even on their radar), that's when it should have come up, that's when they should have started discussing how to fundraise for those individual programs. Not after the French program was already put into place and the students were enrolled.

It blows my mind how poorly she handled this and how it's now being translated into a "white person" thing, as if we're all assholes who don't know how to be inclusive of others.

#notallwhitepeople

Now do another race with that hashtag. We’ll wait....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People don't change. Trying to coach up parents who don't care and dim/lazy faculty and dim/lazy/job-hopping admins does not work. Been there, done that. It's a totally futile pursuit.

And I really don't get the obsession with urban schools. At least inner-cities have access to low-skill job markets. There are plenty of low-resource, high-need white majority schools in downtrodden middle of nowhere places around the US, with few jobs to speak of for the average graduating 12th grader. How come NYT/Atlantic/NPR spend literally zero time pontificating on their issues? Why don't we shame rich white and Asian professionals for not moving to West Virginia and Mississippi?

I think they are just pandering to their highly ideological leftist customers. These people are extremely uninformed and believe the hyperbolic stories about how every POC in the US is a victim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love it love it love it. I love that it exposes the hypocrisy of rich white parents who say they are sending their kids to a "lower performing" elementary school because they love diversity, but then their kid ends up in the all-white "gifted" class. Or they say that "all you need to do" is stay on top of the teachers/administrators to make sure they are giving your child extra challenge, etc., which really means you are stealing resources from the underprivileged kids at the school who actually need them. It really is gentification.

If this rich white parent that you describe here is the villain of this scenario, then please describe the behavior of the rich white parent who navigates this “correctly” in your mind. No really. It would be helpful to understand how an ally can truly be an ally. Because it kinda seems like leaving for private school is the only acceptable way to get out of the crosshairs here.

That’s white flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love it love it love it. I love that it exposes the hypocrisy of rich white parents who say they are sending their kids to a "lower performing" elementary school because they love diversity, but then their kid ends up in the all-white "gifted" class. Or they say that "all you need to do" is stay on top of the teachers/administrators to make sure they are giving your child extra challenge, etc., which really means you are stealing resources from the underprivileged kids at the school who actually need them. It really is gentification.

If this rich white parent that you describe here is the villain of this scenario, then please describe the behavior of the rich white parent who navigates this “correctly” in your mind. No really. It would be helpful to understand how an ally can truly be an ally. Because it kinda seems like leaving for private school is the only acceptable way to get out of the crosshairs here.

That’s white flight.

Correct. But when a white family legitimately WANTS to choose to stay, must they then just accept mediocrity for their child (decline acceptance into an AAP class that is the right level of academic challenge for their child if it means there aren’t “enough” POC in the class?—or NOT speak up to the teachers/administration to advocate for their child’s educational needs?) in order to not be accused of “stealing resources?”
It’s a losing situation. If I’m a white parent, I’m not asking to be hailed as sone kind of “hero” for staying in a school where my child is the minority, but I’m not interested in being villainized for seeking a good education for my child. So if it can’t be at that school, then I guess “white flight” to another school will be one a viable option.

[Anonymous]

This thread (and a bunch of others that have been popping up since the latest surge of BLM - like the one about having a pod is racist) has been very entertaining to me. You people (I am guessing all white) are hilarious in a crazy kind of way to me as an immigrant poc. It is really hard for me to understand (not being snarky) how much angsty and drama you put into this.

It would never occur to me to not offer my children the best education possible within my mean just because poor minority children can't have the same (lack or resources or parental involvement). I don't begrudge all the services and $$$ that goes into trying to level the field for all children and provide all with a quality education. That absolutely should be the goal.

However, while we are not there and we don't have a quality education for all children, I will certainly supplement and do whatever I can within my means to give my own children the best I can afford.

Unfortunately I cannot afford a good private school so I am limited to supplementing, hiring tutors, making sure they have access to good books (and making them read), sitting down and studying/teaching them.

They are bound to go to what I consider a bad high school, so yeah, I have to work at home to make up for it. And I don't begrudge the parents who enroll their children at excellent private school or move to a good MS/HS boundary because I would do the same if I could - in a heartbeat and without any guilty.

The goal of these people (and many here) is great, but I am not putting this on the back of my children't education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread (and a bunch of others that have been popping up since the latest surge of BLM - like the one about having a pod is racist) has been very entertaining to me. You people (I am guessing all white) are hilarious in a crazy kind of way to me as an immigrant poc. It is really hard for me to understand (not being snarky) how much angsty and drama you put into this.

It would never occur to me to not offer my children the best education possible within my mean just because poor minority children can't have the same (lack or resources or parental involvement). I don't begrudge all the services and $$$ that goes into trying to level the field for all children and provide all with a quality education. That absolutely should be the goal.

However, while we are not there and we don't have a quality education for all children, I will certainly supplement and do whatever I can within my means to give my own children the best I can afford.

Unfortunately I cannot afford a good private school so I am limited to supplementing, hiring tutors, making sure they have access to good books (and making them read), sitting down and studying/teaching them.

They are bound to go to what I consider a bad high school, so yeah, I have to work at home to make up for it. And I don't begrudge the parents who enroll their children at excellent private school or move to a good MS/HS boundary because I would do the same if I could - in a heartbeat and without any guilty.

The goal of these people (and many here) is great, but I am not putting this on the back of my children't education.

Almost everyone is logical like you are. The only people worried about this are idiots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I couldn't believe the first episode! I thought it was going to be totally different based on the reviews.

I don't think these white parents did anything wrong except not being more inclusive to the parents who were already there. But a. the school was struggling to attract new students, b. the media is telling white people how bad and racist we are all the time, how wrong it is to move to the suburbs (white flight), how wrong it is to send your kids to 40-50k a year private schools etc. etc. and here these parents actually send their kids to the neighborhood school, c. they fundraise on their own to put into place the new program they want. At least they weren't using the PTA's money for it.

What do you want white parents to do? We're bad if we move to the suburbs, we're bad if we send our kids to private school, and now we're also bad if we send our kids to the neighborhood school and get involved in it.

There’s nothing you can do. That’s the point of their attacks. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Blaming white (and Asian?) folks for failed schools is and always has been a crock of ****.

It's really not that hard! Instead of acting like you and your kids are better than others, just treat all families with respect, try to listen to and understand people of other races and backgrounds rather than making assumptions that you're always right and you always need to be at the center of everything, and value all kids and advocate for policies that benefit all kids not just your own. In other words, just be a decent human being!

You're making a LOT of assumptions that Rob's family and others didn't treat people this way just because the principal did not communicate to the PTA about the new French program and how it would be paid for.

The PTA's interactions became awkward after that but it didn't have to be that way. I think if the principal had told the parent body from the outset what was going on and why (especially that she was actively trying to recruit new families due to low enrollment numbers and worries about being shut down), everything about this situation would have been very different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love it love it love it. I love that it exposes the hypocrisy of rich white parents who say they are sending their kids to a "lower performing" elementary school because they love diversity, but then their kid ends up in the all-white "gifted" class. Or they say that "all you need to do" is stay on top of the teachers/administrators to make sure they are giving your child extra challenge, etc., which really means you are stealing resources from the underprivileged kids at the school who actually need them. It really is gentification.

If this rich white parent that you describe here is the villain of this scenario, then please describe the behavior of the rich white parent who navigates this “correctly” in your mind. No really. It would be helpful to understand how an ally can truly be an ally. Because it kinda seems like leaving for private school is the only acceptable way to get out of the crosshairs here.

x 1000

[Anonymous]

You get out of the crosshairs by refusing to play. Do what is best for your own children, and help your local community with your surplus.

Don't let being called racist/sellout/whatever bother you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love it love it love it. I love that it exposes the hypocrisy of rich white parents who say they are sending their kids to a "lower performing" elementary school because they love diversity, but then their kid ends up in the all-white "gifted" class. Or they say that "all you need to do" is stay on top of the teachers/administrators to make sure they are giving your child extra challenge, etc., which really means you are stealing resources from the underprivileged kids at the school who actually need them. It really is gentification.

If this rich white parent that you describe here is the villain of this scenario, then please describe the behavior of the rich white parent who navigates this “correctly” in your mind. No really. It would be helpful to understand how an ally can truly be an ally. Because it kinda seems like leaving for private school is the only acceptable way to get out of the crosshairs here.

x 1000

You can do nothing right in the eyes of a projecting racist. Nothing. And that's before you add in the jealousy of your house, car, class, wealth, intelligence, aggressive go-getter Type A ("annoying" / "elbowy" striver) personality, and... clutch the pearls... your naturally more gifted child.

This isn't about school, per se, it's about everything you have that they don't. Why waste life trying to appease such malcontents? Hence, "flight" to charters, privates, suburbs, and de facto private hyper-selective publics (Walls, TJ, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize why it's "racist" to avoid sending your white (or Asian?) child to a crummy school, that happens to be majority minority? And dovetailing, how does a lack of white (and Asian?) students make a minority majority school disadvantaged?

I honestly don't get this argument.

From what I see, Asians aren't blamed. Only whites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize why it's "racist" to avoid sending your white (or Asian?) child to a crummy school, that happens to be majority minority? And dovetailing, how does a lack of white (and Asian?) students make a minority majority school disadvantaged?

I honestly don't get this argument.

From what I see, Asians aren't blamed. Only whites.

That's just getting going. It'll pick up steam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize why it's "racist" to avoid sending your white (or Asian?) child to a crummy school, that happens to be majority minority? And dovetailing, how does a lack of white (and Asian?) students make a minority majority school disadvantaged?

I honestly don't get this argument.

From what I see, Asians aren't blamed. Only whites.

I haven’t listened to the podcast so I’m not addressing that situation. What is racist, is assuming that a majority minority school is “crummy” without other evidence. Test scores are inherently a measure of the student socioeconomic demographic, in no way a measure of the quality of a school, and yet are used without question, by many white families in choosing where to live. That’s what’s racist. It doesn’t mean that every majority minority school is a good fit for your child or that it’s racist to do actually do the research and make the decision that’s best for your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize why it's "racist" to avoid sending your white (or Asian?) child to a crummy school, that happens to be majority minority? And dovetailing, how does a lack of white (and Asian?) students make a minority majority school disadvantaged?

I honestly don't get this argument.

From what I see, Asians aren't blamed. Only whites.

I haven’t listened to the podcast so I’m not addressing that situation. What is racist, is assuming that a majority minority school is “crummy” without other evidence. Test scores are inherently a measure of the student socioeconomic demographic, in no way a measure of the quality of a school, and yet are used without question, by many white families in choosing where to live. That’s what’s racist. It doesn’t mean that every majority minority school is a good fit for your child or that it’s racist to do actually do the research and make the decision that’s best for your family.

Is there any evidence that test scores are 'racist' other than results correlating to economic status? Do kids who can read fail reading SOLs because of race?